He is a great guy. Just not suited for a Ph.D. We should terminate his program. He will be very successful in industry and will enjoy it a lot more.
Prof. Karl Bohringer, University of Washington
3.Professional Growth 3.1.[U] How undergraduate students fail in research
Unfortunately, quite a few students fail in their efforts to integrate into SEAL. Every story is different, and below are the most frequent failure scenarios.
3.1.1.Classes
This scenario is particularly common with undergrads and with early graduate students. The first week of the quarter is spent running for signatures and figuring out infrastructure. Second week is spent setting the computer and desk. Third week represents a feeble attempt to understand the project. Then, the midterms start and consume weeks 4, 5, and 6. Week 7 is a holiday week, e.g. Thanksgiving, and nothing gets done. Week 8 is the only week when some appreciable effort is put into project. By that time, however, nobody listens to the student, because he/she is known to produce mostly excuses, not results. Week 9 is dedicated to class projects and week 10 to preparation for finals. The student books the flight leaving three hours after the last final, and is not heard from until week 1 of the following quarter if ever.
What can you do? If you cannot handle research in addition to your classes, just focus on your classes. Less damage is done to the research project and better grades for you. One day you may be ready for it, but until that, do not apply for the project. Alternatively, sacrifice something else and figure out how to balance your classes and research.
3.1.2.Outside work
This scenario is particularly common with financially disadvantaged undergraduates. The student spends mornings in classes and nights working a manual job, such as pizza delivery, office assistance, or gas station attendant. Research participation is limited to sitting is weekly meetings and promising to find some time for the research project. That latter part never happens.
What can you do? Reduce working hours at your other job and register for a small amount of classes. If this does not give you enough time, do not bother with research in this lab. Perhaps student advisors can find an alternative for you. There are scholarships, work-study programs, and other methods to keep you afloat. Review the appendix of this document.
Some students never quite figure out their tasks. Remedy for this is asking questions, spending time discussing research issues with your mentors, more experienced students, and allocating enough time for the project. It also helps to establish clear goals, calendar, and milestones for the project.
3.1.4.Discipline
Once in a while, there is a student whose behavior or habits are just unacceptable for an academic environment. Such students are asked to leave immediately. Examples of unacceptable behavior include being notoriously messy, noisy, or belligerent.
3.1.5.Organization
Students who forget their tasks and project elements are never successful. You must develop a system of notes that helps you to keep track of the project.
Every year, there is a sore loser in the lab who complains that all data was lost in a major computer crash. There are many methods to back up your data. A DVD-RW costs a couple of dollars and holds 4+ GB. Work with other lab partners to figure out the most suitable method of data backup. Along the same lines, store intermediate versions of manuscripts, in electronic form: do not just overwrite the same file.
Scholarships, travel grants, internships, and job offers are abundant in American universities. By not following up on these opportunities, you are likely to lose more than you realize. Awards breed awards; success leads to success. If you fail to build a powerful resume early on, you may not be given a chance to keep building it on higher levels.
3.2.How Ph.D. students fail in research 3.2.1.F ailing a qualifying exam
Quals are easy at UW. In contrast, half of Stanford graduate students are destined to fail quals each year, because such is the quota of their graduate school. At UW, everyone can pass, technically. Failing the first attempt is not an indication of student abilities. Perhaps you did not study enough, or perhaps you were not lucky. Failing second time is an entirely different matter. The committee fails the student at the second attempt only if the student has not proven to be a quality researcher. If the research results are good, the committee will find ways to help student fix the gaps of knowledge. Most helpful methods of preparing for quals include understanding well the scope of the exam, discussing your deficiencies with the exam board members, and allocating enough time.
A Ph.D. is not for everyone. Many people do it for wrong reasons. See more in the supplemental required reading material. And this…
3.2.3.Procrastination
It may seem like four years allocated for a Ph.D. degree is a long time. It is and it isn’t. The schedule almost free of constraints that graduate students typically enjoy should be used wisely. Some students start feeling that it is enough to spend time in the lab, and spend it in conversations and surfing the web. Real contributions to research require mental concentration. It is important to allocate enough hours for real productive actual work and stick to them. It works better when such hours are allocated in large chunk, as opposed to being dispersed throughout the day.
  
3.2.4.
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